2023 Prana Thoracic Summer Interns

"Prana feels strongly about giving interns opportunities to engage our company and gain real-world experience in an early-stage medical device startup environment." - Ken Bueche, COO

Kian Samra

Rice University '24 | Bioengineering | Las Vegas, NV

"Working at Prana has been an amazing experience where I've been able to do impactful work while also developing meaningful connections with my coworkers.  Everyone here is deeply motivated and aligned to meet a clinical need, creating an inspiring workplace culture.  Collaborating with the team and working to make our technology a reality is incredibly fulfilling and gets me excited to go to work in the morning.  At Prana I truly feel like a member of the team and family, rather than just an intern."

Juan Jose Tellez

Rice University '24 | Bioengineering and Global Health Technologies | Dallas, TX

“I have really enjoyed working and getting to know the Prana team. The team bonding activities outside of work have really helped strengthen my relationships with the others, which in turn helps me work more effectively at CDI. I also love learning about multiple different areas in the medical technology field, and enjoy performing several different tasks with the Product Development team. Overall, I’ve had a great summer working with Prana Thoracic!”

Koby Reid

EnMed at Texas A&M 25' | Doctor of Medicine & Master of Engineering | Lakewood, CA

“Interning at Prana gave me a great inside look into the developmental process of a medical device from ideation to FDA approval. It was inspiring to see such a tight knit team work so quickly and fluidly to accomplish their shared goal, and I was happy to be a brief part of that process. The early exposure Prana provided during my training will undoubtedly help shape my career to integrate cutting-edge medical devices with clinical medicine."

Lillian Tanabe

Boston University '25 | Accounting and Finance | Houston, TX

"While I did not come to Prana with any STEM background, I have gained many useful research and analytical skills that I will be able to use in my classes and internships going forward. I have also had a great time getting to know the other interns and employees at Prana who have all made me feel extremely welcomed."

Riley Benedict

UC Berkeley '25 | Chemical Biology | San Pedro, CA

"I loved getting to work alongside Prana’s incredible team and I learned so much about the operations of a startup, the process of brainstorming and finding new ways to get past roadblocks in product design, and the urgent need for research in the area of lung cancer treatment. Being able to contribute my time and effort towards helping achieve the goals of Prana Thoracic looked different almost every day and led to tons of awesome experiences, including presenting my own research, building model prototypes, brainstorming with my fellow interns, and meeting incredibly talented people in the field of med-tech. This internship opened my eyes to the incredible opportunities in med-tech, a field that I’m more excited now than ever to explore.